A police officer was handed a prison sentence for taking tens of millions of won in exchange for covering up crimes by the operator of a prostitution website.

Suwon District Court said Sunday the police officer was sentenced to six years in jail, an 80 million won ($67,780) fine and an additional 77.7 million won for embezzlement, fraud, disclosure of official secrets and dereliction of duty. 

The 48-year-old is accused of condoning criminalities by the site operator, his longtime acquaintance, from August 2015 to January 2017, and receiving bribes totaling 77.7 million won on 16 different occasions.

The officer is also accused of meeting the site operator’s mother after he was arrested in July 2017, and receiving around 15 million won for “looking after” her son.

According to the court, the officer became acquainted with the site’s managers while he was in charge of the prostitution crackdown duties.

The court said the officer’s offense was “highly censurable, as it undermines public trust in police officers and their abilities to execute duties fairly.”

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)